Love, the Hardest Way
by Lazerlicious
Summary: A stray tear rolled down his cheek, the only one she'd ever see fall from his eyes. He had to finish what he had started. There was no going back, and it had to have been the right thing to do. "I'm sorry, love." He apologized, no small feat for the vindictive hybrid. "It's for the best. I can't let you get hurt again." - KLAROLINE/ONE-SHOT/POSSIBLE MULTI-FIC


**I had originally planned to make this my first multi-chapter fic but I kind of just lost my muse after writing out three chapters (and a very long plot outline). This would've been the first chapter, but re-reading, I realized that it can stand alone as is, so here you are. I'm going to leave this as in-progess, even though it's completed on the small chance that I may decide to continue it.**

**Reviews are wonderful sweethearts! :]**

**It's going to be a little OOC, but that's sorta the thing with all fics.**

**You can also find me on tumblr under hornyklaroline.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Vampire Diaries, fortunately and unfortunately.**

-K-L-A-R-O-L-I-N-E-

The girls were reckless, perfect beach bodies strewn out delicately across the promenade in their tiny string bikinis. He quite enjoyed their company – a perfected way of filling his own void. Cheap alcohol, cheap women, and cheap beach resorts were his new thing.

Klaus had his fun, and with the tide coming in for the night, he departed his lovely ladies with a swift death, leaving the crashing tides to hide their guilty bodies. Miami PD would find their lifeless corpses by morning drained of all blood. He didn't care, besides, what were they going to do? Arrest him? It wasn't likely.

It was his favorite time of day- When the beaches cleared of everyone and everything in their wake but the sea foam, and the salty air wound down as the stars prickled the sky. He'd made his way back towards town, looking for a place nearby to sit down for a nice drink.

It was sheer luck that led him to a shanty little bar outside of the older part of Miami Beach.

He strode in regally, only a few busy bodies bustling about in the rustic tavern. It was just the way he liked it and he quickly made way over to a vacant spot at the bar, occupying a creaking stool. It was mostly quiet, the only sounds coming from low murmurs of the few lurkers about and the static from a nearby tv.

Hand in the air, he waved over a cute brunette bartender, compelling himself a free drink. A few sips down and he was beginning to feel his usual pitiful self. There were no thoughts of anything relevant lingering around his thousand year old brain. For a delicate moment there were no hybrids, no original vampires, no werewolves, no witches – just an oddly _young_ **old** man having himself a drink at the bar.

But best of all, there were no thoughts of _her_.

Of course it was just his luck when all things decent in his eternal life took a drastic turn for the worse.

The tiny hairs on his neck stood tall and alert when he felt the presence enter the bar, his hybrid senses gone into overdrive. He took another huge gulp of his drink, preparing himself for the dirty work that was sure to ensure.

It was one of the many perks of being a thousand years old. Of course, Klaus was not afraid of this company. He was the original hybrid therefore he did not fear, but immediately upon it's entrance his mood went one hundred percent sour – as if a black omen was weeping it's way pathetically onto him.

Klaus took another large swig of his cheap beer – yes, the original hybrid was drinking a Budweiser. That's how low he'd become these days. It was merely the fact that nothing seemed to have meaning to him anymore.

The hybrid didn't flinch when he felt the person slide stealthy into the grimy stool next to him, ordering himself his usual bourbon on the rocks. Klaus slightly, yes, slightly, envied him. Tonight was not a bourbon night for him, the presence next to him only fueling that belief. Tonight was the usual night of self-loathing and forgetting. He had a lot of those nights the past year.

He scoffed at his own pity party.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Salvatore?" He muttered sarcastically turning to face the dark haired vampire.

Damon Salvatore only gave a light smirk, turning his gaze elsewhere and taking in the site of the rank little bar. Klaus followed his gaze, eyeing the building warily. It was the first time he _really_ paid attention to how disgusting the diminutive place truly was. How the health department hadn't shut the establishment down already was beyond him.

The walls were a ghastly brown with cheap little relics strewn out randomly. Dust and grime overflowed his senses when he inhaled for the very first time since entering. The only thing that had attracted him to this god awful place was the obscenely large sign plastered on the front of the run down building that displayed the word "BAR" on top. Of course, the light to the "R" had been perfectly dim. They didn't even have the decency to give the function a proper name, it seemed.

"Never expected to find you in _**this**_ place." Damon remarked casually, acting as if they were long lost buddies. Klaus never having much patience when it came to Damon, was ready to break his bottle over his head, but Damon didn't relent. "But then again, I never thought of you as the decent type anyways." Damon downed his drink the moment the bartender sat it down on the napkin.

In a total of two seconds Klaus had his hands around Damon's neck, holding his head forcefully against the counter. The last thing the hybrid cared about was the alarmed looks on the faces of the few innocents lingering around the bar, outwardly gawking at the pair.

God he wanted to kill Damon.

"You're a long way from Mystic Falls, Damon. What's to stop me from ending your pathetic existence right here, right now?" Klaus threatened, his voice dangerously low. He slammed the elder Salvatore's head against the counter just for good measure.

"Caroline" was all the vampire muttered, the lack of air burning his lungs.

_**Her**_ – of course. Of all things, he should've seen this one coming. Klaus was not prepared for the feeling of a thousand bricks slamming against his chest at that moment. This wasn't supposed to happen. Just when he'd started to let go of the idea, and suddenly it was finding its way to the front seat of his thoughts. Not every witches spell in existence could erase her from his memory, burning against his blackened soul with a searing pain.

Immediately the hybrid's grip loosened only for his hands to reposition themselves against Damon's neck, this time with even more force. His mind had glazed over with clear cut images of Caroline's lovely curls, hips swaying as he watched her walk away from him that _fateful_ night.

His lungs constricted with an agonizing strength.

"And you think that has meaning to me?" Klaus scoffed, a murderous glint in his eyes. He leaned in towards Damon so only he could hear him. "I left her, the hybrids, and Mystic Falls for a reason. _**I don't need them**_. I have my family back."

Even he was having trouble believing that nonsense.

"And you think _**that**_ has meaning to _me_?" Damon choked out. He coughed in his grasp before continuing. "I know what you did, Klaus." His blue eyes were burning accusingly into the hybrid's, with large hands trying desperately to pry away the hybrids in vain.

This time Klaus removed his hands permanently. There was no point in pretending anymore. He sat back down on his stool and quickly ordered a _**real**_ drink. Forget the pity party, he needed a bourbon too.

Damon's fingers flew protectively around his neck, the bruises healing instantly the moment he clasped his fingers around them. People had gathered around them to watch what they thought would have been an all out bar brawl, but Damon paid them no attention. "I know you compelled her to leave you." He said calmly, rejoining an angry Klaus at the bar.

The lazy spectator's dispersed immediately. "Stefan and I put it together pretty quick. That was pretty sloppy of you." Damon remarked coolly.

Klaus slammed his glass against the bar angrily. "And here I thought you two weren't all that smart." His eye twitched. God, he really wasn't in the mood for Damon Salvatore of all people. The last year had been spent trying to forget the Mystic Falls chapter of his eternal life. Feed. Forget. Kill. Forget. This was his new mantra.

As long as Caroline didn't happen to cross his thoughts, he had no complaints.

"I hadn't pegged you as the selfless type, but then I realized this was _**you **_of all people."

Klaus glared icily at Damon. If only looks could _truly_ kill. "You must really have a _**death**__**wish**_ tonight." He smirked, taking a long sip of the bourbon the bartender had nervously handed out. Damon hammered his fist onto the counter.

"You didn't do it for her. You did it for yourself!" The vampire glared disgustingly at him as if he was the most repulsive being on the face of the Earth. Damon had no idea. "You wanted her to forget because you're a coward! Do you really think that's _love_?" Damon pressed, the regard for his own life seemingly slipping away from him.

Klaus was glaring daggers at him. God, he wanted to make him suffer and why he hadn't done so was ruining him. Damon was merely one step away from getting his head ripped off and shipped in a box back to Mystic Falls to his dear brother Stefan.

"I don't answer to you, mate." Klaus seethed, forgetting once more that innocents were helplessly scattered around the bar.

Damon only laughed, unamused. "No, but you should to Caroline. Don't you think she deserves that much? Her own free will and _all of that jazz_?" he said, a thick curtain of sarcasm skillfully holding back all the malice in his voice.

Klaus almost choked on his drink at the irony of his statement.

"So tell me mate, are you really that stupid – to show your face here, I mean?" Klaus waved his hand around, emphasizing, his voice lowering to a dangerous decibel. "Because I know you of all people, judging by the past and whatnot, didn't ever care about Caroline's free will."

Damon's smile faded, his head bowing slightly in what appeared as shame. His regrets did not matter to Klaus, who would eagerly rip his throat out if it weren't for the blond banshee he'd promised long ago. "You know, believe it or not, I didn't come here to argue with you." Damon relaxed, his eyes pleading with the hybrid with what he recognized as desperation.

Klaus turned his eyes elsewhere, fixating on a tacky wall shelf filled with dusty trinkets. "Do tell how you found me," was all he said.

The dark haired vampire smiled. "You shouldn't assume you're the only one that has witchy friends, and no, it wasn't Bonnie. There's no way she would've helped – She hates you more than I do." Damon's blue eyes lit up, a staggering truth hidden behind his gaze.

"Is that so?" the bored hybrid responded.

"That's a shame. I actually quite liked her talent."

"I actually came to ask you a favor." Damon suddenly jumped the gun, his hands fiddling almost nervously with his drink.

Klaus suddenly laughed aloud. He wasn't going to deny, his interest was piqued.

"It's actually for Caroline."

The hybrid froze in place. He couldn't decide if he wanted to be angry or indifferent.

He'd left Caroline behind. That wasn't something he wanted to relive at any moment, but the masochist inside of him begged to know. What was it that Caroline, the girl full of so much light – who could have anything her heart desired- possibly need from him?

Klaus turned to face Damon, who had sincerity written all over his face.

"You see, there you go again – saying that word as if it has meaning to me." He spat, the words flowing from his mouth before he could stop them. His defensive side had seemingly tapped into it's full power. He wanted to get straight to the point, a side of him admitting that he did rather enjoy the idea of Caroline needing his assistance.

Damon suddenly jumped up, his patience apparently gone as he grabbed the hybrid by the collar of his dark blazer, pulling him close to his face.

"Cut the crap, Klaus. Caroline is about to make the biggest mistake of her eternity because of you. The least you can do is clean up your own mess. When you left Mystic Falls, you left her an empty shell. For someone you're supposed to care about, that's pretty low. Even for you."

"I wasn't aware you cared about Caroline's wants." He commented, malice filling his every syllable as he thought of a time where the elder Salvatore had used sweet Caroline for his own purposes. He clenched his fists in anger, swatting him away, seeing clear images of himself killing the blue eyed vampire. Damon Salvatore only lived because he'd promised _her_ that he wouldn't harm him.

It was one promised he would keep – as much as he hated to.

"I'll never understand what Vampire Barbie saw in you, but the fact is, she did, and it made her _happy_. But now, she's doing everything in her power to fill this void she has and the worst part is, she doesn't even know why it's there to begin with!" Damon scoffed, pointing an accusing finger at his chest as he continued his onslaught,

"Whatever it is you did, I suggest you fix it, because if you don't she's going to marry Tyler Lockwood of all people- and even _**I **_wouldn't wish that eternity on _anyone_."

Klaus instantly snapped his head towards the younger vampire. For the first time that evening, he had agreed immensely with the arrogant Salvatore brother. The thought alone had him clenching his fists. He needed to kill something, immediately.

"Because she cared about you, I'm only going to give you one chance to fix this, otherwise I'm going to have my witch take the compulsion off for you, because believe it or not – I do care. I've got my own reasons for doing this, and Caroline doesn't deserve to live an eternity empty because you compelled her."

Damon turned on his heel to leave, leaving Klaus to suffer against his thoughts. He heard the tacky little bell ring as Damon slammed the wooden door on his way out.

Klaus had done some terrible things over the centuries, but this might have to be his only regret. A measly year had gone by since he had last seen her, tear streaked cheeks, magnificent golden curls sprung delicately against her perfect face as she begged him not do the what he'd thought was for her protection.

He wasn't so sure of himself now.

-K-L-A-R-O-L-I-N-E-

"_You can't do this to me!" she pushed against him, flailing her arms around helplessly as he held her hands down, hovering on top of her. "Please don't! I love you Nik!" Caroline pleaded as his dead heart softened at her words._

_He was going to hate himself come morning._

_A stray tear rolled down his cheek, the only one she'd ever see fall from his eyes. He had to finish what he had started. There was no going back, and it had to have been the right thing to do. "I'm sorry, love." He apologized, no small feat for the vindictive hybrid. "It's for the best. I can't let you get hurt again." He muttered, closing the distance between them as a placed one last kiss against her lips._

_Stroking her cheek for a final time, his eyes narrowed straight into her baby blue orbs beginning the inevitable…_

-K-L-A-R-O-L-I-N-E-

His own words had haunted him every night since. This whole time he'd convinced himself he'd been protecting her, but Damon had been right. He only did it for himself because he was a selfish bastard after all.

He'd always thought he wasn't capable of the feeling she brought out, but if only he had known how wrong he had been. There wasn't a day that had gone by in which he didn't ponder what could have been.

Klaus had been foolish not to see it before. She had changed him so much – to the point where he'd even let go of his hybrids.

_**Everything**_.

The fact that the Salvatores were still alive was proof enough. It was simple when he thought about it.

_He loved her._

The hybrid instantly snapped out of his reverie the moment the bartender came to fill his empty glass. He sat there for what felt like hours, but in reality were only minutes staring off into space. He had to fix this. For her. It was time to be selfless for once in his long and eternal life.

He would allow her to do whatever she'd like to afterwards, but for now – she had to know the truth.

Enough was enough. He slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone, and dialing a familiar number. It wasn't but a few rings before the voice answered the phone with a quick "Hello?"

"Elijah," he spoke enthusiastically into the speaker. "I'm going to need you to take over for a little while." He admitted, pausing to take a deep breath.

"I'm heading back to Mystic Falls."

-K-L-A-R-O-L-I-N-E-

**A/N: So let me know what you think. Like? Or no?**


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